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THE STUYYESANT PEAR TREE 

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 



fittutarbdurB d HJanjjaitan Island 



HENRY WEBB DUNS HE E. 



Fam'd Relic of the Ancient Time, 1 as on thy form I gaze, 
My mind reverts to former scenes, to spirit-stirring days: 
Guarding- their sacred memories, as ashes in an urn, 
I muse upon those good old times, and sigh for their return. 






THE KNICKERBOCKER'S ADDRESS 



The scenes by which thou 'rt compass'd now, have little charm 

for me ; 
They speak not of the ancient time, as thou, time-honored tree : 
I, therefore, close my eyes against these forms of brick and stone; 
Then, boldly, to my mental eye, thou loomest up alone. 



Yet not alone, for clust'ring near, with gladsome heart, I view 
The hale companions of thy youth, that round about thee grew, 
Laden with bounteous stores of fruit, — low bending to the ground, 
The due reward of culturing care, with which their boughs are 
crown'd. 



And far and wide, on ev'ry side, as on some knoll I stand, 
I view a beautiful expanse of rich, productive land, 
Dotted or margin'd pleasantly, with shady tree or grove, 
Enliven'd by the songs of birds, which 'mid their branches rove. 



.Natyire. js. here in, .all hqr. prime ;— -the woods, the dell, the plain ; 
'•thi'btoessQilit wi&it? riierry dance, the fields of golden grain ; 
,:T>3 # B}e#d^wj3.sparkluig with the gems of early morning dew ; 
!:wiirl<?" fr'agWrfee breailks from lovely flow'rs of rich and varied hue. 

VI. 

They seemingly have spent in grief, the lone, lone night — for one 
Whose presence is their life and joy ; but now the uprisen Sun 
Stoops down to kiss away the tears, which glisten in his ray ; 
They blushing, lift their lowly heads, and hail him God of Day. 



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TO THE STUYVESAXT PEAR TREE. 



The kine are grazing listlessly, or sauntering towards the mill, 
That stands so boldly 'gainst the sky, on yon romantic hill ; 
Whose arms are whirling constantly, while busy folk within, 
Make melody in strains that rise above the rolling din. 2 

VIII. 

In yonder fields, the harvesters are gathering the grain, 

Some rake, some bind, some pitch, some load, while sweetly 

their refrain 
Salutes the ear, as now they sing, with cheerful, blended voice, 
While with rejoicing Nature they exultingly rejoice. 

IX. 

From yonder dustless mansion comes, its lord, whose heart is seen 
Portray'd upon his countenance ; of firm, majestic mien ; 
Laden with Nature's precious gifts, he scans each orchard tree, 
And slowly treads the well-worn path that leads direct to thee. 



With joyous eye, while grateful thoughts his noble heart expand 
He looks on thee, his favorite tree, brought from the Fatherland 
And lives again in former scenes, when life was in its prime, 
And. finds the memories of his youth still undestroy'd by Time. 

XI. 

In silence deep he muses long on his eventful life, 
So fraught with stirring incidents of home and foreign strife: 
With these contrasts his present lot, so full of hope and joy, 
With scarce of tithe of former cares to harass or annoy. 



THE KNICKKHliuOKKirs ADDRESS 



With pipe in mouth he now reclines beneath thy welcome shade, 
And feels that all his fostering care for thee hath been repaid, 
And dreams, perchance in waking* mood, when thou alone wilt be 
The only relic left midst Art — the old Memento Tree. 



Anon, a group of happy youth, from school restraint set free, 
Comes shouting round him merrily, in wild and joyous glee: 
One, by consent, thy trunk ascends, thy burden'd boughs to shake, 
While all, of thy delicious fruit, most eagerly partake. 



Hoboocken, now, their master comes, devoid of frown and rod, 3 
And with the Governor reclines upon the velvet sod: 
Together they enjoy the sport, again are young in heart, 
Till, warn'd by day's decline, they each, for happy home depart : 



For in a gorgeous couch the sun has calmly sunk to rest, 
Behind Wiehackan's tree-crown'd hills, with gemm'd and erimson'd 

crest ! 
And Night, o'er forest, glade and stream, her dusky mantle throws, 
While Silence, beckoning to Fatigue, invites to sweet repose. 



My heart exults in scenes like this, so beautiful— so still, 
Save Nature's pleasant voices heard in th' low murm'ring rill; 
The cricket's shrill, incessant chirp; the sighing of the trees, 
Whose leaves are dancing ceaselessly, in evening's gentle breeze. 



TO THE STUYVESANT PEAR TREE. 



XVII. 

Now Sewan-Hacky's 4 wave-like hills, with mellowed tints are 

crown'd, 
While silvery beams fall silently npon the groves around, 
Till gradually the landscape wide is bath'd in soften'd light, 
And Luna rules in gentleness — the Goddess of the Night. 

XVIII. 

Such scenes as these, and more than these, for ages thou hast seen; 

Thou saw'st when Spring adorn'd the earth with robes of beau- 
teous green, 

When Summer spread, with lavish hand, her treasures o'er the 
plain, 

And bounteous Autumn offer'd up her stores of fruit and grain. 

XIX. 

When Winter reign'd and cloth'd the earth with robes of virgin 

white, 
And ruthless drove o'er hill and dale with unrelenting might, 
When the ethereal elements in fearful conflict met, 
Then thou, old tree, defiant stood'st— and there thou'rt standing yet, 

xx. 
The forests dense that graced the land ere Hudson plough'd the 

wave, 
Which once were traversal fearlessly, by the Manhattan brave ; 
The orchard trees, around whose base, such golden fruits were 

strewn, 
Arc gone — all gone — I'orevermorc ; — and thou ait left alone. 



THE KNICKERBOCKER'S ADDRESS 



XXI. 

Tliou saw'st when the Usurper came, the Nation to despoil, 
Of the dominion exercised upon her rightful soil: 5 
Thou saw'st the throng that gather'd round to carry to the grave, 
Thy lord, the last Dutch Governor— the honest and the brave: 

XXII. 

When Leisler ruled, who died by fraud — when Kidd the Rover 

sail'd ; 
And when the negroes at the stake in direful accents wail'd ; 
When infant Liberty assay'd to seek her just redress, 
And Zenger gain'd for aftertimes the Freedom of the Press: 6 

XXIII. 

When the bold Sons of Liberty the people's cause espous'd, 
Destroy'd the tea, contemn'd the stamps, and patriot zeal arous'd ; 
When Tories fled clandestinely, suspicious of the day ; 
And laurels crown'd the The Hundred on the shores of Deutel Bay. 7 

XXIV. 

Perchance thou saw'st the patriot band, with dauntless Captain 

Sears, 8 
Who with his lead, triumphant rode, amidst the people's cheers ; 
Or gav'st thy fruit to please the taste of Clinton and his corps, 
Who ruled, where British power will rule, triumphant, nevermore. 

xxv. 
For 'twas thy glory to behold, (the conflict nobly won), 
The entry of that noble band, led on by Washington; 
When the sad sighs from Wallabout were hush'd by the applause 
Which fill'd the sky above the land where triumph'd Freedom's 
cause. 



TO THE STUYVESANT PEAR TREE. 



How vast the changes Time has wrought in this thy island home: 
The handful has become a world, to which th' oppress'd may come: 
The rivulet, once pure and small, is now the turbid stream ; 
Then, Nature rul'd all absolute, but Art is now supreme. 



Could'st thou but speak, I'd question put, concerning him of yore, 
Who priz'd thee, ere he brought thee from his distant, native shore; 
Who nurtured thee so carefully, till thou hadst taken root, 
And then reclined beneath thy shade, while feasting on thy fruit. 

XXVIII. 

Fam'd trees there are in other lands, rever'd in hoary age, 

To which the traveller fondly turns upon his pilgrimage : 

While gazing on their stately forms, his thoughts are backward 

cast, 
And tho' he breathes the present age, he lives within the Past. 



Thus to thy shrine, thou ancient tree, will Knickerbockers hie; 
And standing on their native soil, beneath their native sky, 
In contemplative mood recall, those Names of sterling worth, 
Through whom they trace their ancestry — the Noble Men of earth. 



Fam'd less for show, than solid parts; of staid, reflecting mind; 
Fam'd less for vain, than useful arts ; magnanimous and kind ; 
Respected and belov'd at home — -fear'd and admir'd abroad; 
True to a fault with fellow man — and faithful to their God. 



O THE KNICKERBOCKER'S ADDRESS TO THE STUYVESANT PEAR TREE. 

XXXI. 

Each year we see thy goodly houghs adom'd with mellow fruit, 
Proclaiming to the world that thou hast still a living root : 
Thus may the branches of the Stock renown'd on Hist'ry's page, 
Bring forth the fruits of sterling worth through every passing age 



Tho' shielded from the Vandal's touch by iron band and bar, 
In ev'ry Knickerbocker's heart there's that more potent far, 
Which, circling thee in its embrace, shall guard thee day by day 
Against all enemies save one, stern Nature's law — Decay. 

XXXIII. 

! may thy boughs with blossoms white and living fruit be grac'd; 
While Knickerbocker blood can be by Knickerbockers trac'd; 
Yea, may'st thou from thy mother earth, by time nor man be torn, 
Till light no more shall bless the land where Liberty was born. 







PEi-riiNEit & Cray, Printers, 10 Spruce ft,, NT. Y. 



NOTES 



1. Stanza I. 

"A Pear tree, imported from Holland in 1647, by Stuyvesant, and planted in his 
garden, yet flourishes on the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue, 
the only living relic which preseiwes the memory of the renowned Dutch 
governor. I saw it in May, 1852, white with blossoms ; a patriarch two 
hundred and five years of age, standing in the midst of strangers, crowned 
with the hoary honors of age, and clustered with wonderful associations. 
An iron railing protects it, and it may survive a century longer.''— Lossing 
Pici Field Book of the Eevolution, ii. p. 784. 

To the author of this interesting work, the writer is indebted for the pictorial view of 
the Pear Tree, which accompanies this address. 

2. Stanza VII. 

The Dutch are still noted for beguiling the hours of labor with song. 

3. Stanza XIV. 

The location of one of the Schools of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, at 
this period, was near the site of the present Tompkins' market. It was sus- 
tained for the benefit of the youth in the vicinity of the Bouwery, and for the 
children of the farm servants of the Governor, who was a decided friend of 
education. The school-master's name was Harman Van Hoboocken. 

4. Stanza XVII. 

This was the Indian name of Long Island. 

5. Stanza XXI. 

The author of the History of New- York, in commenting upon the reduction of 
New-Netherland, remarks — "The flag of England was at length triumphantly 
displayed, where, for half a century, that of Holland had rightfully waved. 
* * * "This treacherous and violent seizure of the territory and possessions 
of an unsuspecting ally, was no less a breach of private justice than of pub- 
lic faith." — Vide Brodhead's Hist. State of New- York, p. 745. 



6. Stanza XXII. 
Vide Lossing P. F. B. Rev., ii. pp. 785 and 78(5. 



10 



7. Stanza XXIII. 



For an interesting account of the Sons of Liberty, and of the active part taken 
by them in advancing the growth of democratic principles, vide Loss. F. B. 
Rev., ii. pp. 787-792. 

For an account of the destruction of the Tea at the wharf in New- York, 
by the Mohawks, vide Val. Man. Com. Coun., 1855, pp. 458, 459. 

Contemn 'd the Stamps. Vide Lossing, ii. pp. 788, 789 — et Val. Man., 1855, 
pp. 436-444. 

Tories fled clandestinely. Of this, History records numerous instances. It is 
related, among others, that " Dr. Cooper, the President of King's (now Co- 
lumbia) College, and a Decided Loyalist, becoming alarmed, fled to Stuyve- 
sant's house, near the East River, where he remained concealed until an 
opportunity was afforded of escaping to the Asia, man of war."— Vide Loss- 
ing, ii. 794. 

'• Deutel (now called Turtle) Bay, is a small rock-bound cove of the East 
River, at the foot of Forty-seventh Street. Here the British had made a 
magazine of military stores, and these the Sons of Liberty determined to 
seize. Under the direction of Lamb, Sears, Willett and McDougal, a party 
procured a sloop at Greenwich, (in Connecticut,) came stealthily through the 
dangerous vortex of Hell Gate at twilight, and at midnight surprised and 
captured the guard, and secured the stores, a part of which was sent to the 
grand army at Boston, and a part to the troops then collecting on Lake 
Champlain to invade Canada ; they also seized a tender, with stores, belong- 
ing to the Asia, and took possession of provisions and clothing deposited by 
the government, at Greenwich village, on the west side of the city/-' — " These 
acts were done under the immediate sanction of the committee of One Hun- 
dred, whom the patriots regarded with more confidence than they did the 
Provincial Congress." — Vide Loss. F. B. Rev., ii. p. 795. 

8. Stanza XXIV. 

Isaac Sears was a leading spirit in the troublous times preceding the Revolution. 
•'Rivington, whose influence as editor of the Royal Gazetteer, was great, 
abused the Republicans with unsparing severity, and none more bitterly 
than Captain Sears. That patriot, fired by personal insult and political zeal, 
came from Connecticut, where he had gone to plan schemes for the future, 
with ardent Whigs, and at noonday entered the city at the head of seventy, 
five light-horsemen, proceeded to the printing establishment of Rivington, 
at the foot of Wall Street, placed a guard, with fixed bayonets, around it, 
put all of his types into bags, destroyed his press and other apparatus, and 
then in the same order, amid the shouts of the populace, and to the tune of 
Yankee Doodle, left the city. They carried off the types and made bullets 
of them." The Pear tree stood near the old post road over which he travel- 
led.— Vide Loss. F. B. Rev., ii. p. 797. 

Gen. Clinton occupied the Beekman Mansion, on the East River, for three 
years and six months, and traversed the post road daily on his way to and 
from the Fort.— Ibid, ii. 815. 



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